Morning wake-up + homemade almond milk coffee creamer

I love my morning coffee. Yes, love. I know, it seems like an everyday ordinary activity. But there’s joy and meaning in the routine and ritual of that cup. I wake up bleary eyed, thinking, ‘Sam slept through the night, it’s gonna be a good day.’ Hit a few buttons on the Keurig and the stolen moments of that cup turn it into a great day. Because I am all about instant gratification.

The weather is warmer, the sun is up earlier and my goal is to get outside for a walk. My first, small step is getting up for that cup before the house awakes. I treasure that time. The house is quiet. This moment is all mine. The day is full of promise.

Green Mountain Coffee sent me some samples, and I really liked the smooth, full bodied flavor of the Colombian Fair Trade Select. And their French vanilla might just be the push I need to transform myself into a morning person! Because right now, coffee is just about the only thing that keeps me from hitting the snooze button one more time.

Before I even finish the cup, someone – usually Henry – is up. Full of the crazy energy that never diminishes until his head hits the pillow again at night. Did someone give him coffee? Why can’t I have energy like that? Time for another cup!

Good coffee deserves a good cup. Here are a few coffee finds – in my favorite black & white – that would make my day just a little bit greater. I’m pretty sure that’s a word, right?

Homemade Almond Milk Coffee Creamer

Recently I started making my own coffee creamer. After looking up homemade creamer recipes I found lots using condensed milk or half and half, which are no go’s since I can’t do lactose. Others went heavy on coconut milk, which has a crazy amount of calories, or intimidating ingredients like date paste. So I found a simple solution from items I already have in my cupboard.

For almond milk creamer you will need:

1 cup vanilla almond milk

2 tablespoons full fat coconut milk

Mix one cup almond milk with two tablespoons of full fat coconut milk. Pour as needed into coffee and store in the refrigerator. Give it a stir to mix together before pouring.

I’ll warn you, sometimes the milk curdles in the coffee and I’m not sure what causes it. Anyone know why this is?

This looks delicious! As far as the date paste goes, I started using whole dates in my smoothies as a sweetener (I use unsweetened almond milk cause I’m lactose intolerant, too). I let the dates sit in the almond milk in a cup in the fridge overnight and it kind of dissolves into a paste on its own. BTW, thanks so much for making the videos on the headscarf tying – it took me a few times to get the infinity scarf, but I love it!